Rivals from South Carolina to collide for Region X final

With Louisburg College no longer lurking in the National Junior College Athletic Association's Region X Tournament, USC Sumter must deal with yet another significant task.

"The big monster for us is SMC," USC Sumter coach Tom Fleenor said Tuesday night after his team had made it back to a rematch with Spartanburg Methodist College. "... That's what we came here to do is get to the championship."

The FireAnts dispatched Louisburg 13-6 to reduce the field to two teams from the original eight in the double-elimination tournament at Burlington Athletic Stadium.

At 10 a.m. today, USC Sumter takes on Spartanburg Methodist. If USC Sumter wins, another game between the South Carolina rivals will take place at approximately 1 p.m.

Louisburg (52-9), which held a No. 1 national ranking among junior colleges earlier this season, made it through three consolation-round games but fell behind USC Sumter by 11-0 after 3½ innings. Cody Dolan had two runs batted in and Avi Ahlzadeh had RBI in separate rallies for the FireAnts (36-18).

"The one thing we've done in this tournament is hit," said Fleenor, who pointed out that he was considering his pitching options knowing his team must win twice to capture the regional.

USC Sumter's pitching has been pressed into some stressful duty. Because two games were wiped off the tournament's opening-day schedule by rain, the FireAnts have played four games the past three days. Spartanburg Methodist's games have been spread out with three games across four days.

In Tuesday's first game, Spartanburg Methodist stayed unscathed despite giving up three ninth-inning runs to USC Sumter. Spartanburg Methodist won 9-7 on Bruce Caldwell's two-run, game-ending home run with two outs in the 10th inning.

Louisburg eliminated USC Lancaster 5-2 in the second game on Tuesday's docket.